Member Article

Sports stars help businesses raise thousands for charity at the Steve Cram Celebrity Golf Day

Teams from the North East business community teamed up with sports stars to raise money for a children’s charity today. The 16th annual Steve Cram Celebrity Golf Day returned to Slaley Hall and players enjoyed the best of the day’s weather during their round of golf. Following the golf, other guests will join the fundraising during an evening dinner and auction at the hotel. The event is expected to raise around £15,000 for Newcastle-based COCO (Comrades of Children Overseas), which will be invested in a range of transformational education projects in East Africa.

Stars from the worlds of football, cricket, athletics, motor racing and TV and radio joined Steve Cram for the event, playing a round of golf alongside COCO supporters from the region’s businesses. Among the celebrities at the event were the likes of Steve Harmison, Phil Mustard, Kriss Akabusi, Allison Curbishley, Max Evans, Richie Pitt, double Olympic champion Daley Thompson, and broadcasters Guy Mowbray and Manish Bhasin.

COCO was co-founded by Steve Cram and British Army Major Jim Panton in 2000. The charity works with communities in remote regions of the developing world that provide children with access to the education that is essential for a good start in life, investing in small, sustainable, community led initiatives that can make a big difference at a local level. Key projects include the Schools for Life programme which has now enabled 2,940 young people to access sustainable education in a safe environment. The charity has now supported 50 transformational projects in 16 countries in total, positively impacting the lives of over 200,000 people.

Steve Cram comments: “I am always hugely grateful to my friends and colleagues from the world of sport who give up their time to make this event possible, and to COCO’s amazing supporters from the region’s businesses. It’s a real privilege to play golf for such a deserving cause on the brilliant Slaley Hall course, and also a significant challenge! During the event, we are able to showcase to our guests how the money that they help raise will be invested into sustainable projects in East Africa. That makes a huge impact in improving access to education for young people, which in turn opens up opportunities for them in the future. Once again, thank you to everyone who contributed to this year’s event.”

The Steve Cram Celebrity Golf Day was sponsored by Grosvenor Casinos and supported by Nike, Slaley Hall, Aston Martin, The White Ball Club, Bang on Print & Design, R&B Group, Apex Radio Systems and Adnams.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Chris Lines .